WICHITA, Kansas (KSN) – A Wichita mother is responding to a Dillard’s sales clerk after the woman told her that her daughter needed Spanx. Spanx produces body shapers and slimming intimates for both women and men.

It starts with a picture of a red dress. The sight of a happy, healthy 13-year-old girl trying on outfits for spring formal.

“She was twirling around in it, and the sales lady came in and said, ‘she needs Spanx for that’. I said, ‘no, no, she’s good just like she is’, and she kind of grabbed her stomach and said some things that are not very kind,” Megan Naramore Harris, stated.

A beautiful, mother, daughter moment, they say, was ruined by harsh words from a Dillard’s sales associate at Towne East Mall. Upset by the incident, Megan took to Facebook to vent to family and friends.

“If it was just a pushy sales person, it wouldn’t have even been an issue. I would have just said no, that’s okay we’re not buying this dress. It’s fine, and let it go. It was the repeated telling me how imperfect my child was when this is how God made her. This is exactly how she’s supposed to be,” Harris said.

Within days, the concerned mother’s post went viral, drawing attention from hundreds of thousands across the United States.

“I’m not really mad at her. I just hope that she never does that to another girl again,” Lexi Harris explained.

Lexi says this is a message all people need to hear.

“Don’t be afraid. If you feel pretty in it, show it. I did feel very pretty in that dress, it just wasn’t comfortable. But, if you feel comfortable, then you should wear it no matter what anybody says,” Lexi said.

It’s a message from a mother, who is fighting for her life. Megan has stage three breast cancer.

“Still to this day, it’s really awkward to look in the mirror. But, it’s very much that it’s not what defines you as a woman,” Megan stated.

After a double mastectomy, Megan has made it her personal goal to teach her children to be comfortable in their own skin, and that words can be a powerful thing.

“Just be happy with who you are, cause that’s a life lesson,” Megan explained.

The mother, Megan Harris, shared the post on Facebook, and it has now gone viral. The post has had over 32,000 shares and over 200,000 likes.

“This is my teenage daughter who wanted to try on dresses for an upcoming formal. I found this dress and asked her to try it on. She told me this was not her style, but tried it on for me. I told her how grown up it made her look and she smiled, and told me this made her look too old but still, she let me take a picture. Right after that, you entered and told my daughter she needed to wear SPANX if she wanted to wear this dress. . I told my daughter to go change. I told you that she was just fine without SPANX. You continued to argue with me. We left soon after. I wish I had told you how many girls suffer from poor self image and telling them they need something to make them perfect can be very damaging. Girls of all ages, shapes and sizes are perfect because that is how God made them. If they feel good in a dress, that is all that should matter. My daughter is tall, she swims, runs, dances and does yoga. She’s fit. She’s beautiful. She did not need you telling her that she is not perfect. I hope this is shared and gets back to you so that you should not say something like that to a girl ever again. You never know what negative or positive thoughts they are thinking about themselves.”

Sincerely,
Mother of a beautiful girl

Some have criticized the mother for making the post. She responded with this on Sunday. She says she does not want the clerk fired, and she said her daughter isn’t embarrassed over the post.

A few things I need to say: People have said that I should be ashamed for embarrassing my daughter. SHE IS NOT EMBARRASSED, SHE IS EMPOWERED!!!
First, I ONLY posted this with permission from my daughter! It was her choice. PLEASE KEEP SHARING!!
Second, please know I do not want this lady fired! That being said…
Third, the entire conversation was I had with the sales lady, I will NOT repeat, but I can ASSURE you it was not a basic up sale. I have been in sales before and know the difference between a pushy sales person trying to make a sale and someone who has gone beyond the point of being rude.
Just needed to put that out there.”

Media General contributors reached out to Dillard’s and their corporate spokesperson, Julie Bull, released this statement to us.

At Dillard’s, our mission is to help people feel good about themselves by enhancing the natural beauty found in all of us. We train our sales associates with the goal of creating a completely positive experience with each visit. It is certainly never our intent to offend our customers. We have reached out to this customer and her daughter, and we appreciate the outreach of so many of our followers and customers to bring this issue to our attention.”

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